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Season Of The Witch (WORD)
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"Season of the Witch" is a song co-written by Scottish singer-songwriter Donovan and American singer-songwriter, Shawn Phillips, and released in August 1966 on Donovan's third studio album, Sunshine Superman. "Season of the Witch" was recorded at the CBS studios in Hollywood, California, where most of Sunshine Superman was recorded. According to Donovan, he and Phillips wanted a "rock-combo sound" for the song and chose some local musicians from the local clubs. One of the first songs to fit the "psychedelic" genre, Donovan recorded "Season Of The Witch" in May 1966, shortly before his highly publicized arrest for possession of marijuana. "There was a feeling, even then, that all was not perfect in the Garden of Eden," he said of the song in an interview with Mojo magazine June 2011. "Dealers were moving into bohemia and hard drugs were on the fringes. The song was also prophetic. It was about the bust, although of course I couldn't know that then."
The song was covered by Al Kooper (Blood Sweat & Tears, The Blues Project) and Stephen Stills (Buffalo Springfield, Crosby Stills Nash & Young) on the historically significant 1968 album Super Session. Other covers of this very portable song include Vanilla Fudge on a 1960s single and several of their 2000s albums, Luna on a 1996 single, and Joan Jett on her Naked album of 2004. Lana Del Rey recorded a spooky cover for the soundtrack of the 2019 horror movie Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark.